The Holy City - Varanasi
Varanasi, or Benaras, (also known as Kashi) is one of the oldest living cities in the world. Mark Twain, the English author and literature, who was enthralled by the legend and sanctity of Benaras, once wrote : "Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together" . According to the ‘Vamana Purana’, the Varuna and the Assi rivers originated from the body of the primordial Person at the beginning of time itself. The tract of land lying between them is believed to be ‘Varanasi’, the holiest of all pilgrimages.
Diocese of Varanasi
Though a small diocese, Diocese of Varanasi is in a significant way a picture of Mother India. The very name of this Holy City conjures up the apex of the spirit's endeavour in Hinduism. Sarnath reminds us of Dharma Chakra Pravartana of the Buddha. The two districts, in the west and to the east, Jaunpur and Ghazipur, evoke a pair of twin and refined kingdoms of the Muslim era. The history of the diocese remembers with gratefulness the outcome of the Capuchin missionary endeavour to Tibet in the 1700's, as an epic in the history of the Church.